Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/William Cotton IV


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete. Mifter (talk) 22:50, 4 December 2018 (UTC)

William Cotton IV

 * – ( View AfD View log  Stats )

I've actually never speedied an article as a blatant hoax, but this might qualify. There is a second article which is more of the same. Another editor tagged this as a possible hoax, and I can find zero support for either of these articles. The final straw was the 1978 Democratic House primary, shown in this article. According to the state of Florida, Hutto ran against 3 other opponents in the primary, none of them named Cotton, see HERE].  Onel 5969  TT me 14:23, 27 November 2018 (UTC)

I am also nominating the following related pages because it also appears to be a hoax:
 *  Onel 5969  TT me 14:25, 27 November 2018 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Politicians-related deletion discussions.  CAPTAIN RAJU (T) 17:08, 27 November 2018 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of South Carolina-related deletion discussions.  CAPTAIN RAJU (T) 17:09, 27 November 2018 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Florida-related deletion discussions.  CAPTAIN RAJU (T) 17:09, 27 November 2018 (UTC)


 * Delete - Things are smelling fishy with these articles. A cursory Google Search for both William Cotton IV and William C. Cotton IV show no mention of time in the Florida House, nor do they show any notability. It's frustrating that the Florida elections bureau only goes back to 1978, as there is no way for me to effectively confirm whether Cotton was elected to the State House of Representatives. Thanks for the catch . Bkissin (talk) 18:50, 27 November 2018 (UTC)
 * It wasn't really me,, but who alerted me to the possible hoax.  But thanks. Onel 5969  TT me 00:47, 28 November 2018 (UTC)


 * Delete elaborate hoax, quite real sounding. Sole incoming link from disambig William Cotton.  E.M.Gregory (talk) 20:50, 27 November 2018 (UTC)
 * Note that article creator linked:, George McHuegh as an alumnus of the Belmont Hill School.E.M.Gregory (talk) 20:54, 27 November 2018 (UTC)


 * Delete - Unable to verify any of the content. The user falsified the image, and likely did the same with the rest of the article. -KH-1 (talk) 22:31, 27 November 2018 (UTC)
 * Delete per WP:HOAX. The creator of these articles tried blanking them. Why would he do that if they were legit?...William, is the complaint department really on the roof? 11:12, 28 November 2018 (UTC)
 * Delete. I can't see anything in either of these articles that's as transparently bullcrap as Articles for deletion/James Snipplet, the ultimate political wikihoax of all time just for the sheer length of time it flew under the radar before its painfully obvious hoaxery actually got caught out, but that's precisely why WP:NPOL requires proper verification in reliable sources before the presumption of notability for a legislator is actually locked in. If the articles aren't properly verified by legitimate sources, and don't seem to verify anywhere else either, then they aren't handed an inclusion freebie just because of what the article claims. If somebody can actually show some valid sourcing that we're missing which verifies that either of these people really existed as state legislators, then no prejudice against recreation at that time — but NPOL does not hand them an inclusion freebie just because of offices they're claimed to have held, in the absence of any sources which properly verify the truth of the claim. I also see that nobody had nominated the photos for deletion on Commons yet, even though they're both renamed and reuploaded copies of images that we already have of other people, so I just wanted to note that I've taken care of that here for "Cotton" (really Lamar Jeffers) and here for "McHugh" (really William J. Driver). Bearcat (talk) 22:46, 28 November 2018 (UTC)
 * Delete probable hoax, completely unverifiable. SportingFlyer  talk  18:01, 3 December 2018 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.